Overlord of the Wilderness

After a moment of reflection, the five landed on a small hill. Zhaang Ye surveyed their surroundings from atop it, feeling an incredibly dense, malevolent aura pressing in from all sides. The thick, vicious energy hung in the air like dark clouds, blocking out the sunlight and shrouding the area in an oppressive, eerie gloom.

From the distance, Zhaang Ye could occasionally hear the great roars of Barbaric Beasts. The ground trembled ceaselessly, adding to the grim, sinister feeling of the place.

While Zhaang Ye was observing their surroundings, the four Hall Masters conferred for a moment. The Fourth Hall Master then walked over and said, ”Zhaang Ye, the area our Wei Kingdom True Hall is responsible for defending spans roughly a thousand li. This region can be divided into four sectors—east, south, west, and north. I am in charge of the west. You’ll come with me to hunt the Barbaric Beasts there.”

Zhaang Ye’s entire purpose for this trip was to slay Barbaric Beasts and obtain their Inner Cores. As long as there were beasts to hunt, it didn’t matter where he went, so he readily nodded in agreement.

Just then, the Great Hall Master spoke in a grave tone. ”Over the past few days, a few extremely formidable Barbaric Beasts have appeared in our sector. They are Late-stage Lower Rank beasts, with combat strength even greater than a Late-stage True Dao Third Layer expert. If anyone encounters one of them, sound a warning immediately. We will join forces to slay them.”

The other Hall Masters nodded, their expressions turning solemn. Although they were all experts of the True Dao Third Layer, only the Great Hall Master had reached the Late Stage. The Second, Third, and Fourth Hall Masters were all at the Mid-stage Third Layer. Encountering one of those powerful beasts alone would be an extremely dangerous affair.

The Fourth Hall Master led Zhaang Ye toward the west. As they moved, they both carefully concealed their auras, gliding forward without their feet touching the ground.

As they traveled, the Fourth Hall Master whispered, ”Danger lurks at every step here; you must be extremely careful. And whatever you do, do not fly. If you do, you’ll draw ferocious attacks from all kinds of Barbaric Beasts. You’ll be severely injured, if not killed.”

After giving these instructions, the Fourth Hall Master took out a small bag of Essence Stones and tossed it to Zhaang Ye. ”We’re less than ten thousand li from the spatial rift, so the malevolent aura is incredibly dense. Once your Innate True Qi is depleted, you can only use Essence Stones to recover. Take this bag. If it’s not enough, ask me for more.”

Zhaang Ye’s heart warmed. In the Land of Divine Abandonment, Heaven and Earth Essence Qi was scarce, making Essence Stones hard to come by. He was secretly moved by his master’s gesture. Tossing the bag back, Zhaang Ye smiled. ”Master, I don’t need your Essence Stones. I have my own.”

The Fourth Hall Master was startled for a moment, but then he understood. ”Ah, right. You must have acquired a good number of Essence Stones after killing that expert. Very well. Just ask me when you run out.”

Zhaang Ye smiled and agreed.

”ROOOAR!”

As the two moved swiftly, an earth-shattering roar erupted from several li away. Following the sound, a purple monster over thirty zhang tall and fifty zhang long suddenly burst from the miasma of malevolent energy. A tangible, savage aura gushed forth, pressing down on Zhaang Ye and making his skin prickle with pain.

The Fourth Hall Master sized up the purple monster and said to Zhaang Ye, ”This is a Purple-backed Iron-horned Beast. Its combat strength is equivalent to an Early-stage True Dao Third Layer expert. This kind of beast has immense strength, but it’s rather slow. Its Defense Power is astounding. Zhaang Ye, you can use it for some practice.”

Zhaang Ye’s eyes lit up as he chuckled. ”Excellent! Master, watch me slay it and take its Inner Core!”

The Fourth Hall Master smiled faintly. ’This Purple-backed Iron-horned Beast has astonishing Defense Power, and its two iron horns are incredibly dangerous. If it realizes it can’t win, it will immediately self-destruct. Zhaang Ye might be able to defeat this beast, but retrieving its Inner Core will be another matter entirely.’ He simply didn’t believe Zhaang Ye could do it.

”BOOM!”

Just as the Fourth Hall Master was about to shout a word of caution to Zhaang Ye, he suddenly realized that Zhaang Ye had vanished without a trace. Even with his powerful Spiritual Sense, he couldn’t detect how his disciple had disappeared.

’What a profound Wind Realm!’ The Fourth Hall Master was secretly astonished.

Just as the Fourth Hall Master was reeling in shock, a blazing golden light erupted in the distant void. The light resembled a bolt of lightning, yet also a Celestial River, as it descended from the heavens. Carrying an indescribable might, it slammed viciously toward the head of the Purple-backed Iron-horned Beast!

”BOOM!”

The golden light appeared and struck with unbelievable speed. The Purple-backed Iron-horned Beast’s massive body gave it no time to dodge, and it was struck squarely on the head. With a tremendous boom, the golden light blasted a hole clean through its skull. It was killed instantly, before it could even let out a cry.

”HSSS!”

Seeing the massive Purple-backed Iron-horned Beast crash to the ground, the Fourth Hall Master couldn’t help but gasp. He had assumed that no matter how powerful Zhaang Ye was, it would still take a considerable effort to slay this beast. He never imagined that Zhaang Ye would kill a Barbaric Beast—one with strength comparable to a True Dao Third Layer expert—in a single blow!

The Fourth Hall Master flashed to the side of the fallen beast. Staring at the Long Whip in Zhaang Ye’s hand, he exclaimed in utter astonishment, ”Good heavens, kid! I can’t believe you possess an ancient True Artifact! The power of these ancient relics is far more terrifying than ordinary True Artifacts. No wonder you killed the Purple-backed Iron-horned Beast in a single strike!”

Zhaang Ye chuckled. ”My goal on this trip is to gain experience, so I was planning to have a proper fight with it. But to make sure I could retrieve its Inner Core, I had to use my strongest move.”

The Fourth Hall Master nodded. ”You did the right thing! Out here, you must never show any mercy. Always go for the kill against Barbaric Beasts. Hesitation will only lead to endless trouble!”

After hurriedly extracting the Inner Core from the Purple-backed Iron-horned Beast, the two were about to leave when they suddenly felt the ground begin to tremble. The malevolent aura surged wildly as an unknown number of Barbaric Beasts began charging toward them.

The Fourth Hall Master’s expression changed. ”This is bad! The beasts smelled the blood and are rushing over! We need to retreat quickly and then pick them off one by one.”

A glint flashed in Zhaang Ye’s eyes. ”Master, their timing is perfect! There are two of us. You can act as a decoy out in the open to draw their attention while I use my Wind Realm to hide. Then we can take them out one by one—one whip strike each—and harvest their Inner Cores!”

The Fourth Hall Master’s heart leaped. Although he was a Hall Master, he received very few Essence Stones over the course of a year. That was why, after centuries of Cultivation, he was still stuck at the Mid-stage True Dao Third Layer. ’If I can obtain a large number of Barbaric Beast Cores and use them with Elixirs,’ he thought, ’I might just be able to break through to the Late-stage True Dao Third Layer…’

”Alright! Let’s take the risk!” The Fourth Hall Master was a decisive man. He quickly nodded, agreeing to take the chance with Zhaang Ye.

With the Fourth Hall Master’s consent, Zhaang Ye activated his Wind Realm, transforming into a wisp of wind and silently concealing himself in the void. The Fourth Hall Master, meanwhile, leaped atop the iron horns of the dead Purple-backed Iron-horned Beast and quietly awaited the arrival of the other beasts.

A few moments later, a massive roar echoed out. A snow-white Barbaric Beast that looked much like a tiger suddenly appeared two li away. Smelling the thick scent of blood and seeing the Fourth Hall Master standing on the dead beast’s horns, its eyes immediately turned blood-red as it charged thunderously toward him!

”BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

The Fourth Hall Master waved his hands, unleashing three consecutive blasts of Sword Gang that slammed into the snow-white beast. His attacks weren’t fatal, but they were extremely painful. After being struck a few times, the beast flew into a rage. It opened its mouth and blasted a torrent of malevolent energy as thick as a water bucket straight at the Fourth Hall Master!

’Now’s the time!’

Seeing that the Fourth Hall Master had the beast’s full attention, Zhaang Ye instantly appeared above its head, raised the Punishment Whip high, and brought it crashing down!

”BOOM!”

With a thunderous crack, the snow-white beast was driven to its knees by the Long Whip. This beast was slightly more powerful than the Purple-backed Iron-horned Beast; despite the blow, it didn’t die instantly. It let out an earth-shattering shriek of pain as its entire body began to glow with a black light.

”Hurry! It’s going to self-destruct!” the Fourth Hall Master shouted in horror, warning Zhaang Ye.

As a battle-hardened warrior, Zhaang Ye had naturally seen the beast’s intent. Unhurried, he raised his Punishment Whip and struck the snow-white monster’s head again, killing it instantly.

Before they could even collect the Inner Core, a rumbling sound echoed from all around. Three or four more massive Barbaric Beasts, each like a small mountain, came charging in.

”AWOOO!”

Seeing the Fourth Hall Master and the fresh blood on the ground, the beasts all let out excited howls. They opened their great maws, launching ferocious attacks as their massive bodies charged straight for him.

”Master, hold them off!”

Zhaang Ye shouted to his master. Seizing the opportunity while the Fourth Hall Master held their attention, he unleashed a flurry of strikes with his Punishment Whip. Infused with Celestial River Righteous Qi, the whip transformed into streaks of golden light that slammed viciously into the beasts. In the blink of an eye, Zhaang Ye and the Fourth Hall Master had joined forces to kill all four Barbaric Beasts!

”Excellent! Excellent!”

Seeing that no more beasts were approaching, the Fourth Hall Master and Zhaang Ye began to collect the Inner Cores. They had killed six Barbaric Beasts in total and obtained six Inner Cores, which they split evenly, each taking three.

Looking at the Inner Cores in his hand, the Fourth Hall Master couldn’t help but exclaim in delight. Normally when he hunted Barbaric Beasts, he considered himself lucky to get a single Inner Core in half a month. Now, in just a short time, he had obtained three. This was easily two months’ worth of gains for him!

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote with Recommendation Tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)